EVERY STEP OF THE WAY: Recruiting process brought Hudson, Haug closer

Published
8:06 pm CDT, Saturday, June 13, 2015

ALTON — As he drove along I-270 on his way to Alton last Tuesday, Todd Haug’s cell phone began working in overdrive, bombarded with text messages. He knew it was finally happening. And when he saw a text message from one of his assistant coaches, he knew it indeed had happened. It was short and to the point:

“82 to Cubs”

Haug, the Alton High School baseball coach, guided his car to the shoulder - and he cried.

“I pulled over and bawled,” Haug said. It was the end of a two-year process that was so up and down and involved. If you haven’t been through it, there’s no way anyone can know.”

That process involved Haug, Redbirds pitcher Bryan Hudson, a host of major league scouts, NCAA Division I coaches and Hudson’s family.

The end came when Hudson, a 6-foot-8 left-handed senior pitcher, was drafted by the Chicago Cubs with the 82nd pick in the third round of the MLB Player Draft. He was the first pitcher taken by the Cubs and their third selection overall.

“I learned so much about the process and what these kids have to go through,” Haug said. “And I learned a lot about what great people Bryan and his family are.”

In fact, Haug became a bit like an extended family member.

“Coach Haug has meant so much through all this,” Hudson said. “He’s taught me a lot about baseball, but also a lot about life outside baseball. I can’t say enough about how much help he has been.

“He’s been there - every step of the way.”

Hudson has also signed a letter of intent to play baseball at the University of Missouri next season. He now has to make a decision on whether he will accept the Cubs’ offer or Mizzou’s offer. He’s indicated that while he’s inclined to accept the Cubs’ offer, the final decision is yet to come - likely sooner than later.

“I’ll probably sign (with the Cubs),” Hudson said. “First, we wanted to wait until the draft was completely over. Now we’ll make the final decision.”

The scouts got interested his junior baseball season and the number increased - even during the prep basketball season. Hudson was a starter on the Redbirds’ basketball team as well. As the number of scouts began increasing, the pressure did as well. Hudson dealt with it as best he could, but as an 18-year-old senior at AHS, he was also trying to concentrate on classes, as well as have a normal senior year of high school.

Without reservation, Haug took on the task of trying to help Hudson sift through the offers and the propositions. And while he’s been around the sport of baseball a long time, he admits to often flying by the seat of his pants.

“There are two phases to this,” Haug said. “I had a basic understanding of how the draft worked, but things have changed,” Haug said. “As a coach, you want to do everything you can for your players, but in some ways, we went into this blind.”

Over the course of those two years, however, Haug and Hudson’s vision improved to the point that it led to his being on several teams’ wish lists, including the Cardinals, who had a “huge” interest, according to Haug.

But to get to there, it’s necessary to back track.

“Getting that text message was the end,” Haug said. “Before we can get to that point, we need to go back to the beginning.”

‘Baby G’ and the Sweet 16

It began in earnest near the end of Hudson’s sophomore season at AHS. As a freshman Hudson had been 6-1 and, according to Haug,” rather uncoordinated.”

But Haug added, “By his sophomore season, he had grown five inches and the coordination was coming. Based on those physical attributes, he was going to the varsity level.

“When he did get into a game, I put him in positions to be successful,” Haug said. “We pitched him in times with no pressure.”

It was during a game at Belleville West that Hudson showed he had a chance to someday land on some big-time radars.

“We were at West, getting creamed,” Haug said. “I needed someone to come in and show what he could do.”

Hudson was that someone.

“He was phenomenal,” Haug said. “He wasn’t allowing anyone to barrel-up on the ball. That was when I decided we would put him in some new situations.”

From that point, it was indeed a different ballgame for the Redbirds - and for Hudson.

“We rode “Baby G’ all the way to the Sweet 16 that year,” Haug said.

“Baby G?”

“He got that nickname because he looked like a baby giraffe out there on the mound,” Haug said with a chuckle. “He was so long and lanky, not totally developed.”

But by his junior year, “Baby G” was the ace of the Redbirds staff.

“He only lost five games that year and four of them were 1-0 or 2-1,” Haug said. “But even when he lost, he never got down or overly emotional. It was like a professional mentality.”

During a game against Collinsville that season, there were a number of pro scouts in house to watch Kahoks pitcher Tanner Houck.

“They came to watch Tanner, but they also got to see Bryan,” Haug said. “He out-pitched Tanner that day and had a no-hitter through six innings.”

Hudson had landed on the radar.

“OK, here we go!”

There were two phases to the process — Phase I being college decision and Phase II the professional part.

“We knew there would be a college part for sure,” Hudson said. “I knew I wanted to try and make a career in baseball. I didn’t know if the pro part would come, but I wanted to deal with deciding on a college.”

After a strong performance in the regional title game Hudson’s junior season, the college process got under way in a big way.

“There were a lot of major Division I teams, like Mizzou and Illinois, very interested,” Haug said. “I said then, ‘We need to jump-start this college thing. OK, here we go!’”

In the end, Mizzou won out of 17 other finalists. “It came down to Mizzou and Arkansas,” Hudson said. “When I signed, I wasn’t even thinking pro baseball. I had no idea all this would be happening.”

Jerry McGuire with a pickup

Haug knew it was time to bring in someone more familiar with the process.

“(Highly recruited players) often get an advisor who helps them through the process,” Haug said. “The advisor is not an agent, because if they were contracted as an agent, that would mean the loss of amateur standing. They will field phone calls, but not actively market the player. Eventually, though, if the player decides to sign, the advisor usually transforms into an agent.

“We need to get an advisor. we didn’t have one and at times, I was getting 20 to 30 calls a day about Bryan.”

Enter Jason Cook, an advisor who lives in Northern Virginia.

“I was the filtration system when they were looking for an advisor,” Haug said. “Finally, it came down to four and the one we went with was Jason Cook. He was a perfect fit for Bryan and his family. He’s a family man and he also had dealt with Mizzou.

“When you think of sports advisor and agents, you think of Jerry Maguire,” Haug said, referring to the 1996 movie starring Tom Cruise.

“But Jason is different. Jerry McGuire would drive up in a BMW. Jason is the kind of guy you’d expect to drive up in a pickup.”

“After he got an advisor, the real barrage of scouts began., It was ‘Katy bar the door,’” Haug said. “They would even have scouts at Alton basketball games, all wanting to sit with Bryan’s parents, Cory and Nicole, at basketball games and talk to them.”

There had been question about whether Bryan should even play basketball his senior year because of the recruiting process. That question was answered quickly.

“He needed to play basketball,” Haug said. “Even though he missed some baseball events in the summer because of basketball, but Bryan’s kind of a throwback to athletes of the 80s who thought if they were good enough, the scouts would find them.”

Alton High basketball coach Eric Smith was aware of Hudson’s baseball whirlwind. While he was coaching his team to one of its best seasons, he made allowances in Hudson’s case.

“Coach Smith was very understanding,” Hudson said. “He is another coach who has meant a lot to me. I’ve learned a lot from him - on and off the basetball court. He has supported me through all this. I had to miss a few basketball practices, but it was OK.”

In the end, basketball helped Hudson land that high draft selection.

The Cubbies are coming

In mid-February, Haug received a call from longtime area Padres scout, Jeff Stewart, a former coach at Illinois State University.

“He wanted to come in and watch Bryan at our indoor facility,” Haug said. “He said a friend, another scout, would like to come along. He said it was Stan Zielinski.”

Zielinski, a baseball scout since 1979, has worked for the Cubs since 2001 working Illinois and four neighboring states as his territory.

“Stan has 22 Major League players to his credit,” said Haug, who had heard of Zielinski, but not met him. “Once I did meet him, it was like he’d been around forever. We’ve become very close through all this”

Zielinski and Stewart watched Hudson at the baseball facility, then asked if they could follow him at basketball practice down the street at AHS. That, according to Haug may well have been what put Hudson over the top with the Cubs.

“Stan took video of Bryan at basketball practice,” Haug said. “That video was part of the package that was presented to the Cubs. They saw how he played basketball and saw him dunk. They saw he’s a complete athlete and that’s what sold him to the Cubs.”

And so we arrive back at Tuesday, June 9, 2015 — draft day.

Hudson spent Monday evening watching the draft on TV at Sunset Bar and Grill on Delmar, but the call didn’t come. On Tuesday, he was with his family at Alton Memorial Hospital, where his younger brother Koby had undergone an emergency appendectomy.

“I was watching the draft on my mom’s computer and I got the call (from the Cubs),” he said. “There were a bunch of nurses around watching me and I smiled real big — and my mom started crying.”